"Digvijaya Singh has been summoned to face trial for offences under sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code to face trial for defamation. He has been summoned for Dec 21," Metropolitan Magistrate Sudesh Kumar said.

After Gadkari lodged the defamation complaint Oct 1, the court Oct 16 reserved the order to summon Digvijaya Singh.

Gadkari in his complaint said the Congress leader dragged his name into alleged irregularities in the allocation of coal blocks. The BJP leader recorded his statement in the court that he was "not responsible for any coal block allocation to anybody".